The Abruzzo
The Abruzzo lies almost wholly on the Adriatic side of the Italian Peninsular and stretches along the coast for some 130 Kilometres with spectuacular beaches. The mountains of the Abruzzo are the highest in Italy with the mountains of Laga, Maiella and the The Gran Sasso mountains, the highest of the Apennine peaks with its stark evocatively beautiful vast, high mountain plateau Campo Imperatore, sometimes called Italy's "little Tibet" they are frequently used as film and television backdrops. Also to be discovered is the storybook mountain village of Santo Stefano di Sessanio it is listed in Italy's top 100 most beautiful villages.
The National park of Abruzzo is the oldest and most important one in Italy. The Park is inhabited by bears, chamois, wolves, deer wild boars, squirrels, foxes, all quite wide spread; more unusual are the Chamois only lately brought back to the area. The symbol of the Park is the Marsican Brown Bear, which represented, until recently, an endangered species. Among the predatory birds are to be found the buzzard, the peregrine, the sparrow hawk and the Golden eagle. A magnificent natural paradise where ancient man has left lasting traces of his presence.
In Spring and Summer the Park is covered with several colours. The meadowlands are full of blossoming gentians, blue gentians, violets, peonies and forget-me-nots and the beech-woods are full of columbines and Marsican irises. The pride of the Park is the Cypripedium calceolus, a kind of yellow and black orchid generally called Venus's little shoe or Our lady's slipper. 